Scooting By

I was once again at Balboa Park, in San Diego. I kind of use this place as my personal practice grounds, especially during the work week. Therefore, trying to find some new and original shots is the challenge. That is why I go there.

I pretty much know all the classic shots of Balboa park and I try and look for something that is quite different and unique. I think this little boy who was on his scooter, is quite original.

Now, the fountain area is definitely a great area to shoot some candid shots. It certainly has that magnetic pull towards children. I had been in this area, for about 10 minutes, trying to actually line up this guy with his son on his shoulders. That shot didn't pan out. But then along came the boy and his scooter.

Now, the composition between the fountain and the California Tower (in the backdrop) is what I had lined up. Trying to find someone or something to fill in the immediate foreground was my goal.

For the exposure and overall look, obviously, this shot is backlit. So I had a black-n-white, silhouette type of shot in mind. I decided to purposely overexpose this shot,. I wanted to see just hints of detail on the boy, while still being silhouetted.

The other reason why I overexposed this shot was to eliminate a lot of other potential distractions. There might be a chance of seeing something through the water or other distractions in the sky. This leaves me with 3 distinct elements of the photo, the water spray, the California Tower, and the boy on his scooter. I really love the separation this gave me.

Lastly, I did some 2-3 burst shots as he scooted by. I chose the shots where his legs were really pushing off and supplying that man-made propulsion.

It's really nice finding new shots at a place where I have shot countless times. This made my evening of photography at Balboa Park wonderful.